"It’s not science fiction, it’s not realism, but hovers in the unsettling zone in between. From Philip K Dick to Stephen King, Damien Walter takes a tour through transrealism, the emerging genre aiming to kill off 'consensus reality'." "Literature" authors continue to be astonished and baffled by the popularity (and quality) of "genre" works. (Grokked from Deborah Beale)
OSIRIS-REx.
"Darren Seals, a black activist who protested in Ferguson, Mo., in 2014, was found shot to death in a burning vehicle in St. Louis County… At least four other St. Louis-area men have been found shot dead in burning cars in recent years, though it’s unclear if any of those cases were linked in any way." Wait, what? No, I'm sure they're not all linked at all. Just in case you were wondering why black lives matter. (Grokked from Kelly Link)
Video of Microsoft's Hololense augmented reality googles helping to teach anatomy. Note, it's not the goggles themselves, but the skill of the programmers to create the models the students are viewing. Now what would be very cool is if you could take these models (which hopefully are accurate, again, back to the skill of the programmers) and map these onto a living person using that person's vital signs to dive the animation. That's probably a few decades down the road (while we all learn for the "ideal" human anatomy, I can tell you that most people deviate from the norm). So, until then, I'll have to keep visualizing your skeletal structure in my head as I take your x-rays. (Grokked from Emma Audsley)
"The Crystal Serenity's visit to Alaska's western coast is historic. At nearly three football fields long and 13 stories tall, the cruise ship is the largest ever to traverse the Northwest Passage, where its well-heeled guests glimpsed polar bears, kayaked along Canada's north shore, landed on pristine beaches and hiked where few have stepped."
"'Wells Fargo employees secretly opened unauthorized accounts to hit sales targets and receive bonuses,' Richard Cordray, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, said in a statement… The way it worked was that employees moved funds from customers' existing accounts into newly-created accounts without their knowledge or consent, regulators say. The CFPB described this practice as 'widespread' and led to customers being charged for insufficient funds or overdraft fees -- because the money was not in their original accounts." Holy craparooni. But, hey, let us weaken bank regulation and gut the CFPB (two goals of the Republican majority). (Grokked from Paolo Bacigalupi)
"To start with, WHO estimates that 80 percent of the medical equipment in developing countries is donated. A 2011 study looked at inventory lists from 16 low-income countries and showed the number of nonfunctional medical equipment in that pool is at about 40 percent… Meanwhile, in high-income countries less than 1 percent of medical equipment is out of service."
"The state of Ohio has settled its legal battle with Planned Parenthood, agreeing to pay thousands in legal fees and to not enforce controversial rules on disposing of remains of abortions." Well, I'm sure that only cost us a few million.
"Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Chairman Archambault II spoke with North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple on Thursday morning and was notified that the governor has been deployed the national guard to ensure safety of all citizens." Because deploying the military against the Lakota Sioux has never been a Bad Idea™. There was a story at the beginning of this (which I didn't link to unfortunately) where the elders were teaching the children and teens in the camp how to flee safely from the camp. People were laughing. At the time my thought was, "there is historical precedence to make them worry." Well, there is historical precedence to make them worry. (Grokked from Fran Wilde)
"Russian authorities are trying to determine the cause of the ominous change to the Daldykan River, located above the Arctic Circle and flowing through the mining town of Norilsk. Photos posted on Facebook by the Association of the Indigenous Peoples of the Taimir Peninsula clearly show the river has turned a vivid red." Everything is fine. We're all fine here. How are you?
"The Trump campaign built a large policy shop in Washington that has now largely melted away because of neglect, mismanagement and promises of pay that were never honored. Many of the team’s former members say the campaign leadership never took the Washington office seriously and let it wither away after squeezing it dry." And that's how Trumpster runs his business. (Grokked form Robert J Bennett)
"In a Wednesday night Commander-In-Chief forum on NBC News, Trump said he learned in the briefing that President Barack Obama didn’t follow the advice of policy experts, saying, 'I was very, very surprised.'… But members of the national security community were quick to point out that intelligence officials do not offer policy advice. An anonymous source told the network that officials are even trained not to allow their body language to betray their personal opinions, as Trump claimed at the forum." As, actually, most people pointed out that night (which several Trumpster surrogates then tried to say yes there are policy opinions in the briefings). This is what happens when amateurs (the Trumpster campaign) encounter actual pros (briefers). In case you don't believe that, you can read some historical (and released) daily briefings here (yes, they're redacted).
"There is no equivalence between Ms. Clinton’s wrongs and Mr. Trump’s manifest unfitness for office." It might just be too late for the adults (in this case, the Washington Post editorial board), who have been absent until now (well, actually they've been driving the circus and now that shit is getting real are feeling a little guilty). (Grokked from Robert J Bennett)
What could it hurt to vote third party? "The (new Ohio Quinnipiac) poll shows Trump edging Clinton 46 to 45 percent in a head-to-head matchup. But 14 percent would opt for Libertarian Gary Johnson and 4 percent for the Green Party’s Jill Stein. And when that happens, Trump’s edge grows to 4 points, 41-37 percent."
Tweet of my heart: @Max_Fisher Insisting that Putin’s popularity can’t possibly be real sort of misunderstands exactly what makes authoritarian nationalism so dangerous. (Grokked from Paolo Bacigalupi)
Double dip: @mattyglesias It's weird how 5,000 front line Wells Fargo employees hit on similar scams without any wrongdoing by high-level executives. (Grokked form Patrick Nielsen Hayden)
No comments:
Post a Comment